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Starting a home business

Submitted by Luke Townsley on

Lots of people have dreams of being their own boss. They should probably keep working a job.

If they start a business, they are likely to find their new bosses are much worse than their old boss.

Live your dream

A much better reason to start a home business is to live your own dream.

Are you called to start or run your own business? One test is to decide if you can do anything else. There are some people who have such a clearly defined vision of what they want to do or where they want to be that it is difficult to make anyone else's dream fit theirs. If that is you, starting your own business is certainly something you should be considering.

Times are good

Fortunately, this is a great time to be starting a small business in any number of fields. We can choose to concentrate on the bad economy, which I think will get much worse and last a long time. We can look at the government intrusion on certain businesses. We can complain about local regulations.

Granted, there are a lot of things that could be better and that should be changed. There are also some businesses that just aren't feasible anymore because of certain laws or regulations or other impediments. For instance, you really can't start your own oil drilling company as a small business. Likewise, you can't offer legal services without a law degree.

I hate it when government interferes with things it shouldn't and likewise when it overlooks things it should take care of. The interesting thing about it though, is that even these injustices can offer opportunities to the savvy and properly prepared individual or company. Indeed such injustices have given rise to whole new industries. I'm not suggesting they are for the common good. I'm just pointing out that often there are ways to profit in spite of and even because of them for the creative and properly positioned.

Getting back to my point, times are good for small business. The internet in particular has opened up a wealth of opportunities that didn't exist before. Overall, it is pretty easy to get into most kinds of businesses. Times are changing quickly, meaning there are market opportunities for creative individuals.

Are you ready?

Maybe times are good and maybe you are a good candidate to start your own business. That doesn't mean you are ready to do it.

Personally, I am probably one of the best candidates ever and yet it has taken me over a year to get up to speed on certain areas I was deficient in. In particular, I have had to study the legalities and paperwork issues of running a business. I have had to learn how to sell. For me, that is a big one and one I still have a long way to go on. I have also had to brush up on a myriad of other details.

I would point out though that one of the fun things in this process has been watching my kids grow through it. Meagan, who is eight, has really gotten excited about it and started thinking about selling things. It really is hard for me to imagine that she won't be doing a significant amount of business (for her age) by the time she is a teenager.

When is the right time?

So when is the right time for you to start a home business? If you are asking this question, you should probably be starting now. My suggestion is to find ways to start small with a minimum of cash and time investment. If this process is new, you will make mistakes and fail. If you have a small investment, it means you have paid a small amount for that lesson! Be prepared to fail quickly and often. A lot of business ideas aren't really failures in the sense of being bad, they are failures in the sense that they have to be discarded because they lead you to something better for you. Some have described this process as "Failing Forward"(affiliate link). In other words, realize that failure is the pavement of the road to success.

A mindset of entrepreneurship

I believe that parents should instill in their children a mindset of entrepreneurship. What I mean that they should take control of their financial destiny. For some, that will mean getting a job. For others, it will mean staying home with their children. For others, it will mean running a million dollar business. For others, it will mean engaging in the ministry or charitable work. For everyone, it should mean finding meaningful work.

I don't mean to say having meaningful work is equivalent to godliness, but for many people, it is a very spiritual thing. And why shouldn't it be? The unique thing about man isn't his intelligence, but rather that he is made in the image of God. Engaging in meaningful work invokes many of those qualities.

There's life after school,
Luke Townsley
SaltMakers.com

Comments

Starting a home business

Good points there, Luke. Some turmoil in our local education system has resulted in us giving our son a year of home school before secondary school and we're all benefiting from the experience. Woodwork is an important part of this, learning to use his hands in a way he wouldn't be at school - there, the teaching is centred on internet white boards and computer screens. People who plan, design and make decisions need some background in making stuff. It's obvious in the failed architecture around here, for example, where architects have missed out on this.

Rob,

Rob, I'm glad you found a schooling option that is working out for you. Regardless of how their kids are schooled, I think every parent should have the "homeschool" mindset, namely that parents are ultimately responsible for the education of their children. I have to agree about hands on skills being especially important for design and engineering types. I suppose there has always been bad architecture, but here in the midwest of the US, there really is a lot of awful stuff going up. It is worse when it is built next to an elegant old building that is full of grace and style. I get that part of the reason is economic, but it still doesn't make it look any better. Luke

This is a great post. Thanks

This is a great post. Thanks for the information, and the motivation. I'd love to get to the point where I can work on my own. But fear and ignorance are my biggest obstacles. If I may ask, what resources did you find when looking for information on the legalities and paperwork required for starting a business?   As well, I very much agree with you in regards to our work being a very spiritual thing. Two things reinforce this for me, the first being what you mentioned. Being made "in the image" does mean that we express the same things that God does. What was the first thing He did? He created, He made, He formed, He worked. In aas much as that is His nature, it is also in ours. Numerous other studies and research findings have proven this, when we work creatively, we utilize all of our faculties, and we are healthier both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Secondly, there is something that was pointed out to me years ago, and I can't seem to forget it either. Usually, the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, it is somewhat significant. The question was asked "When in the Bible is the first time it was described of someone, that they were filled with the Spirit of God?" I got to thinking... must have been some great and impressive leader, right? Moses? Joshua? maybe Abraham? Or was it King David, the one "after God's own heart"? Nope. The first time it is mentioned in the Bible, was in reference to the craftspeople that build the tabernacle. The woodworkers, metasmiths, weavers, potters. Not a charismatic leader, not a healer, not a great preacher, not a prophet. Craftspeople. That's cool.

Dave,

Dave, That is a really interesting point about the builders of the tabernacle! I never caught that beore, but I'm going to look into that. As for the legalities of setting up a business, well of course, I'm not a lawyer, so can't provide specific advice. Most states have quite a bit of information if you can get through it. If you aren't in a highly regulated industry and don't have employees, it is pretty simple to get going. A lot of people can get by with a DBA or simple LLC (some people like Legal Zoom) and a state sales tax number. You may also have county, city or other local requirements. I would suggest anything Dan Miller puts out.  As far as encourgement and basic business sense, his stuff is a wealth of information. The podcasts and 48days.net community are free. Other than that, just start reading, listening to stuff, talking to people, and start doing something in a direction you think you might be interested in pursuing whether it is a microbusiness, expanding on a hobby, writing or whatever. It may take a few years before you have a full time business, or you may decide to keep it as a side business. For certain things, you may want to get professional advice or coaching. I think most people who have any sense struggle with fear and ignorance in starting a first business, but they can be cured through knowledge, wisdom, and experience. Certain personality types are able to see the achilles heel with everything and consequently have to recognize  there will never be a perfect oppportunity and at some point just have to decide to jump in and get going. I tend to be that way t0 a certain extent. Starting small helps. Luke

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